Austria will take on Finland for the 2023 IFAF European Championships crown in men’s tackle football in October after beating Italy 24-14 in Innsbruck. Finland were 33-14 victors over Sweden on Saturday in the other semifinal.
Italian quarterback Luke Zahradka threw for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns in his team’s loss, while Austrian running backs Florian Wegan, with 15 carries for 72 yards, and Tobias Bonatti who rushed 10 times for 45 yards and a touchdown, carried the load for the hosts. Italy will now face Sweden for the bronze medal.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Czechia scored 15 first half points to defeat Switzerland and Israel outlasted Spain 30-23 in Jerusalem to complete the matchups for the tournament’s placement games, which will be played on the weekend of October 28/29 at venues to be decided by a bidding process in September.
2023 IFAF European Championship: Austria vs Finland Bronze Medal Game: Italy vs Sweden Fifth Place Game: Denmark vs Great Britain Seventh Place Game: France vs Serbia Ninth Place Game: Czechia vs Hungary Switzerland finishes in 11th place Israel vs Germany for promotion to Group A and 12th place Russia relegated to Group B in 13th place Spain finishes in 14th place Turkey finishes in 15th place Ireland finishes in 16th place
Austria opened a 14-point first quarter lead over Italy after Bonatti pounded up the middle for a touchdown on the ground and Yannick Mayr went in motion to take a handoff from quarterback Thury Alexander and race untouched into the end zone. Amo Schwartz tagged on both points after.
Italy should have given themselves a lifeline as Ryan Minniti intercepted Alexander and raced down the left sideline to the Austrian 15-yard line, but had the ball stripped from his grasp by Mayr and Alexander recovered his own error.
Austria edged further ahead with a Schwartz field goal then Italy put together their best drive of the half as Zahradka utilized the talents of receiver Jordan Bouah and running back Michael Gentili to move steadily downfield. The quarterback stayed calm under pressure to find tight end Tommaso Finadri wide open in the end zone and Luciano Giuliani’s PAT reduced the deficit to 10 points at the break.
Italy again might have bounced back, this time after a blocked field goal that was returned into Austrian territory, but Gentili fumbled on the end of a powerful run. A second Italian fumble was punished by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Alexander to Florian Bierbaumer and the hosts led 24-14.
Austria were caught napping and celebrating victory on the sidelines as a 61-yard consolation touchdown pass saw Bouah streak down the left sideline as he broke a tackle 40 yards from pay dirt to score.
The Czechia defense was dominant in a 15-0 win over Switzerland with all their team’s points coming in the first half in Ústí nad Labem. Czechia will play Hungary in October to contest ninth place in the final European standings.
After a Martin Masek interception had secured possession for the hosts, Jakub Brezina and Martin Havelka moved the chains downfield for Pavel Mraz to score on a quarterback keeper on third and goal.
The home defense prevented the Swiss from replying, with Jan Stary producing a critical sack when the visitors looked to be gaining momentum. A second Czech touchdown followed as with the first play of the resulting drive Mraz found Havelka over the middle and the tight end bulldozed his way into the end zone from the 15-yard mark, carrying several Swiss defenders with him for a 12-0 lead. The scoring was completed by a Martin Madik field goal with 1:22 remaining in the half.
Israel outlasted Spain 30-23 in an exciting contest at the Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem to set up a clash with Germany for the right to play in Group A of the IFAF European Championships.
Home quarterback Zvi Greenstone was making his international debut and his first pass was intercepted then Spain capitalized as Sergio Sanchez immediately hit Javier Barrena 38 yards up the middle to trigger an early 7-0 lead.
Danny Eastman was the defensive standout for Israel and the first of his two interceptions set up a home touchdown. A steady drive combining the run and pass games and a roughing the kicker penalty on a field goal attempt gave Israel first and goal at the four-yard mark. Having been pushed back, Greenstone connected with his Judean Rebels clubmate Haim Edery on third and 11 to tie the contest at 7-7.
Growing in confidence after his early pick, Greenstone rolled out to fire a second touchdown pass to Amit Kolton, and the hosts led 14-7 with five minutes remaining in the half. Immediately in reply, Alvaro Cansinos Cal returned the resulting kickoff 90 yards along left sideline for Spain touchdown, but the visitors trailed when Eastman blocked the extra point attempt.
Edery proved a handful for the Spanish defense and powered his way down to the three-yard mark from where a quick Greenstone pass to Daniel Mikhaliov opened a 20-13 lead. What looked like a decisive touchdown going into halftime came after another Eastman pick as Greenstone hit Miron Hayes over 30 yards and Mikhaliov’s PAT made it 27-13.
Spain only had 21 seconds remaining in which to reply, but Sanchez produced a 41-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Eduardo Perez and all of a sudden, the game was close again at the interval with Israel just ahead 27-20.
Mikhaliov and Luis Cereceda traded second half field goals and although Curro Cadenas produced a late interception, Spain were unable to capitalize and close the seven-point gap.
Photo: Libor Vočadlo
